News Finder

Author Michael Martone to Read on Jan. 23

The Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series of Hope College will feature novelist, poet, and short story writer Michael Martone on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

Martone has published more than a dozen books of fiction, poetry, and prose, and won many awards. His comic sensibility and penchant for blending fact and fiction are fully displayed in his most recent book; "Michael Martone: Fictions," is a collection of 50 hilariously fictionalized "contributor's notes," many of which originally appeared in America's top magazines and literary journals. Sections of the book were also selected for the "Best American Essays 2005" anthology.

The writer John Hawkes described Martone's work as "original and important."

Other books include "The Blue Guide to Indiana," and "Unconventions: Attempting the Art of Craft and the Craft of Art." His current publisher is the Fiction Collection 2, an author-run, not-for-profit publisher of artistically adventurous, non-traditional fiction.

Writer Louise Erdrich has said that "Michael Martone writes with deep affection for the ordinary. In his hands, the quotidian dreams of the American Heartland are transformed and quietly exalted."

Martone was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., and educated at the University of Indiana and at the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. He directs the MFA program at the University of Alabama.

The reading will be preceded by a performance by the Hope College Jazz Ensemble beginning at 6:30 p.m.